Friday, October 12, 2012

Pomona TMZ

TMZ or Thirty Mile Zone is a union term referring to the 30 mile radius around Los Angeles used by the movie industry to determine per diem rates and driving distances for crew members. Previous to 2011, Pomona fell just outside the TMZ, which ended just west of the 57, and meant film companies were reluctant or unable to film here.

But in 2011, Pomona (which is 39.8 miles from the TMZ bullseye of La Cienega and Beverly Boulevards in Los Angeles) and several other outside cities were grandfathered in to the TMZ. According to the Urban Dictionary, the TMZ represents the "epicenter of Hollywood." So, apparently, Pomona's star has been born. The result of this should be more filming around town, something I've already noticed. Unfortunately, the greater L.A. area has taken a dip in local filming in general, so this might be another case of bad timing.

Some of us have had film scout Victoria Howard of Film Pomona inside our homes and businesses to preliminarily scout for future productions. The Film Pomona site has cinematic photographs of various Pomona locales, in addition to our local talent. Which got me thinking certain Pomona politicos would sure make great character actors: Robert Torres wouldn't even need to go thru hair and make-up to play a budding mortician, Steve Atcheley could star in the remake of the Absent-Minded Professor, and don't even get me started on Elliott Rothman.

In news from a 30 mile zone within Pomona, a local teenager on a fixie bike was hit by a Claremont Dial A Ride bus on Tuesday night in the Lincoln Park district. My friend, neighbor and local Trader Joe's guy stayed with the boy until the ambulance came to take him to be airlifted. I'm sad because I've seen this kid and his friends ride by on their fixies nearly every afternoon and they seem like sweet kids. Has anyone heard how he's doing?

FYI, fixies are fixed-gear bikes, meaning they have no gears. They are technically brakeless, but there is a way to brake on them. They tend to have fun, fluoresecent frames and tire striping and are trendy among young people right now. Pomona's fixie scene is centered at the fixie bike store on Garey, north of AMOCA. The store is so hip and underground I couldn't even find a name, address or phone for it on the internet. Guess you have to ride there on your fixie to find out. I see fixies as a great trend, other than the part of the trend involving not wearing a helmet.

So as you ride around the TMZ, please watch out for bike riders, since Pomona still has no bike paths (subject of an upcoming post), and see if you notice the following in your travels:

-Chase Bank's intention-to-build sign at the corner of Foothill and Garey.
-The new Big 5 which was built from the ground-up on Foothill
-A "Dollar General" store going in where the former Pomona Ranch Market was at Garey and Arrow.
-A somewhat mysterious, handwritten "Karsof" sign on an otherwise non-descript, newly painted blue, office complex on upper Towne Avenue.

Hopefully these are all real businesses that we can patronize, and not just Pomona's latest movie sets.